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Although you may sometimes need medication for migraine pain relief, drugs can have undesirable side effects and often don't address underlying problems. Let's look at some self-care tips for migraine prevention and relief.
The first step is to consult your healthcare provider to know for sure your headaches are migraines. Severe pain doesn't always indicate a migraine. Also, you want to know you don't have another serious underlying medical condition.
Common symptoms of a migraine headache are:
How can massage help with migraine headache pain? People who experience migraines generally have stiff, tender muscles in the back of the head, neck, and shoulders. These muscles may have trigger points that cause pain. Massage to release the trigger points can reduce the pain and tightness in the muscles.
Massage therapy is great for reducing muscle tension and relieving stress. Massage is most effective when received regularly, ideally once a week until you are getting fewer headaches.
A few studies have shown that, at a minimum, massage therapy helps people who experience migraines sleep better and often significantly lessens headache pain.
When receiving massage therapy, be aware that mild discomfort can occur with even light, very gentle pressure from the most qualified massage therapist. However, if the pain becomes intense, immediately tell the therapist to stop.
You can also use essential oils for migraine pain relief and perhaps even prevention.
One technique that might stop a migraine you feel coming on is to:
Or you could use a headache compress:
Source: Healing With Aromatherapy
Note: You can use hot water if you like, but most people with migraines prefer cold. You can also alternate hot and cold. Or use a cold lavender compress on your forehead, while at the same time using a warm compress with marjoram essential oil on the back of your neck.
If using a compress is inconvenient, other options are to diffuse an essential oil (or blend of oils) with an aromatherapy diffuser or use an aromatherapy inhaler that you can carry with you.
If lavender doesn't work for you, other essential oils for migraine headaches that you can diffuse or use in a compress are:
Source: Aromatherapy for Health Professionals
Here's an aromatherapy blend to use in a compress or dilute in carrier oil for neck and shoulder massage:
Source: Essential Oils For Healing / The Essential Oils Complete Reference Guide
Relaxation techniques are safe with almost no side effects, although a few people might experience more anxiety rather than less. The following relaxation techniques can be done almost anywhere at any time:
Migraine pain relief often requires a multi-faceted approach, including dealing with stress and physical imbalances.
Diet can trigger migraines for some people. Watch out for these foods:
Other lifestyle factors that can trigger migraines include change in sleep habits, overuse of headache medicines, too much stress, and environmental factors such as:
You might want to keep a food, lifestyle, and headache diary to see you if can find a correlation between these factors and your headaches.
Another possible trigger for migraines is emotional factors. Everything in life has an emotional component. If you want to address the emotional component of your migraines or any other condition, I highly recommend You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay.
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